Amorous wild elephant broke into zoo to mate with captive female

A male wild tusker is apparently besotted with Heera, a female elephant at the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. On Tuesday night, the male wild tusker from the adjoining Chandka sanctuary, wanting to meet Heera, broke the boundary wall.

The wild male tusker then attacked two other female elephants, who were trying to protect Heera. Worried staff at the zoo tried their best to shoo off the tusker. The male elephant went back to the deep forest of Chandka, but the staff noticed that it was still watching Heera ensconced inside. This is the first time an elephant from the wild has entered the zoo in order to mate with a she-elephant.



There are three female elephants, Prema, Basanti and Heera, at the zoo. Zoo staff said that a herd of elephants had come close to the boundary wall, leaving later, but a male elephant stayed on, eager to mate with Heera. At night, it broke the boundary wall and attacked the two other female elephants, Prema and Basanti, who were trying to protect Heera. Both Basanti and Prema were injured.

The male tusker then mated with Heera. On Wednesday morning, animal keeper Shyam Singh and forest guard Susanta Behera, noticed the male tusker and immediately informed senior officials, who came with mahouts. The male tusker at first refused to leave. The zoo officials then burst crackers to shoo off the tusker. Finally, it left in the evening, after watching Heera for a long time.